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Farsi Persian (local names: Persian: فارسی IPA: [fɒːrˈsi] (Farsi) or Persian: پارسی [pɒːrˈsi] (Parsi); see Nomenclature), is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan and has official-language status in these three countries.  Like ancient Persia, which included parts of Iraq, Iran has a long, creative and glorious history. Unlike many other Middle Eastern countries, Iran managed to remain independent throughout much of its history. Today it has a population of about 70 million persons. Principle ethnic groups are Persian 51%, Azeri 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurd 7% and Arab 3%. Iran is a Muslim country, with 89% Shi'a and 10% Sunni Muslims. The remaining 1% belong to Jewish, Bahai and Zoroastrian faiths. The Bahai and Zoroastrian faiths originated in Iran. Major Languages of Iran are Persian (Fars) and Persian dialects 58%, Turkic and Turkic dialects 26%, Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Baluchi 1%, Arabic 1%, Turkish 1%. Since 1979, Iran is an Islamic Republic. Persian has been a medium for literary and scientific contributions to the Islamic world as well as the Western. It has had an influence on certain neighbouring languages, particularly the Turkic languages of Central Asia, Caucasus, and Anatolia as well as Urdu, Hindi, and other Indian languages. It has had a lesser influence on Arabic and other languages of Mesopotamia. For five centuries prior to the British colonization, Persian was widely used as a second language in the Asian subcontinent; it took prominence as the language of culture and education in several Muslim courts in South Asia and became the "official language" under the Mughal emperors. Only in 1843 did the subcontinent begin conducting business in English. Evidence of Persian's historical influence there can be seen in the extent of its influence on the languages of the Indian subcontinent, as well as the popularity that Persian literature still enjoys in that region.  Teheran at night Persian, the more widely used name of the language in English, is an Anglicized form derived from Latin *Persianus < Latin Persia < Greek Πέρσις Pérsis, a Hellenized form of Old Persian Parsa. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term Persian seems to have been first used in English in the mid-16th century. Native Persian speakers call it "Fārsi" (local name) or Parsi. Farsi is the arabicized form of Parsi, due to a lack of the phoneme in Standard Arabic. In English this language is historically known as "Persian". Some Persian-speakers migrating to the West (particularly to the USA) continued to use "Farsi" to identify their language in English and the word gained some currency in English-speaking countries. "Farsi" is encountered in some linguistic literature as a name for the language, used both by Iranian and by foreign authors. However, The Academy of Persian Language and Literature has declared in an official pronouncement that the name "Persian" is more appropriate, as it has the longer tradition in the western languages and better expresses the role of the language as a mark of cultural and national continuity. Some Persian language scholars also have rejected the usage of "Farsi" in their articles.  There are three modern varieties of standard Persian: * Modern Persian is the variety of Persian spoken in Iran, also known as Farsi or Persian * Dari is the local name for the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. * Tajik is the variety of Persian used in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Russia, but unlike the Persian used in Iran and Afghanistan, it is written in the Cyrillic script rather than Persian script. The three mentioned varieties are based on the classic Persian literature. There are also several local dialects from Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan which slightly differ from the standard Persian. Lari (in Iran), Hazaragi (in Afghanistan), Darwazi (In Afghanistan and Tajikistan) and Dehwari in Pakistan are examples of these dialects.  The Ethnologue offers another classification for dialects of Persian language. According to this source, dialects of this language include the following: * Western Persian, or Farsi (in Iran) * Eastern Persian (in Afghanistan and Pakistan) * Tajiki (in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, China (Xinjiang Autonomous Region)) * Hazaragi (in Afghanistan) * Aimaq (in Afghanistan) * Bukharic (in Israel, Uzbekistan) * Darwazi (in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan) * Dzhidi (in Israel, Iran) Since the nineteenth century, Russian, French and English and many other languages have contributed to the technical vocabulary of Persian. The Iranian National Academy of Persian Language and Literature is responsible for evaluating these new words in order to initiate and advise their Persian equivalents. The language itself has greatly developed during the centuries. Due to technological developments, new words and idioms are created and enter into Persian as they do into any other language.  RELIGION: Prior to the foundation of Islam in Iran, Persians are noted for the development of one of the oldest monotheistic religions, Zoroastrianism. In this religion, there is one "Lord Wisdom", known as Ahura Mazda. Also important to the religion is the concept of the nature of good (Senta Mainyu) and evil (Angra Mainyu). One can see how the later monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have taken many of their teachings from this religion. Zoroastrianism, while having a small following, is still in practice today and many Iranian festivals still center around the Zoroastrian calendar. One favorite is Noruz, a celebration of the Iranian New Year taking place on the Spring Equinox. Dictionary: http://www.ectaco.co.uk/English-Persian(Farsi)-Dictionary/
English - Persian dictionary (8180 words)
http://translate.eu/en/dictionaries/English_-_Persian_dictionary
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